USCB Summer Institute on America's Reconstruction Attracting Educators from Around
the United States

The inaugural workshop is funded by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Bluffton, S.C. (July 9, 2015) – The University of South Carolina Beaufort (USCB), in partnership with the City of Beaufort, Penn Center, and the University Of South
Carolina College Of Education, will host 30 K-12 teachers from around the country
for a three-week summer institute July 12 - August 1, 2015. The institute, “America's Reconstruction: The Untold Story,” will guide the educators through more than a century of American history—from the
final years of the cotton kingdom in the South, through the Civil War and Reconstruction,
and up to the modern civil rights era.

The institute is funded as a result of a $200,000 National Endowment for the Humanities
(NEH) grant awarded in 2014 to J. Brent Morris, Ph.D., assistant professor of history
in the Department of Humanities and Fine Arts at USCB.

Serving as the institute’s director, Dr. Morris’s research and academic interests
involve Nineteenth Century United States History; South Carolina History; Slavery,
Abolition and Antislavery; the Civil War and Reconstruction; and African-American
History. He is the author of Oberlin, Hotbed of Abolitionism: College, Community, and the Fight for Freedom and
Equality in Antebellum America, which has been nominated for the prestigious 2015 Gettysburg College/Gilder Lehrman
Lincoln Prize and Gilder Lehrman Frederick Douglass prize. His second book, Yes Lord, I Know the Road: A History of African Americans and South Carolina 1526-2008,
with Documents, is forthcoming from USC Press in 2016. Dr. Morris also provides exhibit guidance to
the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture.

“Reconstruction is known for the federal government’s attempts to grant equal rights
to former slaves as well as the political leadership of African-Americans in the former
Confederate States,” says Dr. Morris. “Reconstruction actually began in Beaufort County
in 1861, the first year of the war, and, though the era fell short of many Americans’
expectations, it laid much of the groundwork for the ‘Second Reconstruction,’ or the
Civil Rights Movement, of the 20th century.”

Taking place on the USCB Historic Beaufort Campus, institute participants will review
the exploits, writings, and influences of key Reconstruction figures, as well as the
ideologies that motivated them. Each week, new themes will be studied and examined
including the importance of the Sea Islands in South Carolina and Georgia. Additionally,
participants will hold classes at locations tied to the weekly themes in order to
help them gain a better understanding of the issues and to personalize the story.

“Demonstrating how that history has been influenced by events and personalities originating
from the Sea Islands of South Carolina and Georgia is an important aspect of the summer
institute,” says Dr. Morris. “It will be a critical piece to learning and understanding
more about one of the most neglected and misunderstood periods in our nation’s history.”

To learn more about the summer institute, contact: Nikki Troxclair at 843-208-8255,
troxclair@uscb.edu.

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ABOUT USCB: Located in the heart of the Carolina Sea Islands, the University of South Carolina
Beaufort (USCB) is a baccalaureate member of the USC system, serving the southeast
coast of South Carolina and Georgia. Since 2002, USCB has tripled its academic degree
programs, doubled its FTE enrollment, opened its first on-campus housing (now serving
565), joined the NAIA Sun Conference, and fielded conference and national award-winning
Sand Shark athletes in nine sports. The university’s two campuses serve a diverse
student body of 1,822 students. The Hilton Head Gateway campus in Bluffton offers
cutting-edge Computational Science and Nursing laboratories. The Historic Beaufort
campus, located on Beaufort’s downtown waterfront, houses an innovative baccalaureate
Studio Art program in close proximity to Beaufort’s many art galleries. Students enjoy
opportunities on Hilton Head Island, including the USCB Center for Event Management
and a Coastal Ecology research partnership with Vagabond Cruise. USCB serves 1,500
Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) members, who participate in more than 1 million
course hours annually, placing OLLI at USCB in the top 10 in the country. The University
of South Carolina Beaufort offers students an exceptional place to learn and live
in an environment focused on growth, preservation and opportunity.